Today while I was painting two little girls they told me that their faces seemed "tight". I have also heard this from three other children.

Is there anything that I can do?I'd read (somewhere) that you can add a smidgen of glycerin to help with paints cracking.... would a spritz of water/glycerin help the paints to feel less tight to them? Or anything else that I can do?

The children were all clean faced... and healthy.

I'm using mostly TAG paints (which I find a bit softer than DFX (it could all be in my mind.. *L*)), a few DFX paints, and Paradise for black and brown.

I find them to be somewhat dry myself - but, thought that it was just me.

I have had a few children say it feels tight or itches. The first one to tell me it itches gave me a panic attack.lol. But it seems the feeling only last a min untill it completely dries. and it is very few kids. I hope i dont jinx myself but I have not had a reaction yet.

Tell them to make funny faces at each other. No, really - the skin gets itchy from the paint drying and making the skin tight, as said above. Once they stretch out the skin by making silly faces the itch usually goes away.

TAG/Wolfe/DFX will all tighten up on the skin. Adding glycerin won't help with that. I also recommend making faces. If they say an area itches I tell them to lightly tap it with their finger(if it's dry). Don't rub or it'll smear. Most kids forget about the tightening & itching. I use paradise or powders on especially itchy kids.

And don't spritz glycerine & water on kids - any of that near the eyes burns - I use it for sweat effects (for TV/Film) and once sprayed it without the actor protecting his eyes completely - really hurt.

Snaz is a big "tight" drying paint too. I get comments about that from kids fairly often... I also tell them to make faces - generally I make faces at them and tell them to copy me!

It is the water evapourating that caused the "tightness" and when they move and stretch the facial muscles it will "loosen" the paint and get rid of the tight feeling. BUT... it also (particularly with Snaz) causes the paint to break up and loosen, falling off in a fine powder which makes the colours look faded after a short period of time (again, particularly with Snaz).

Part of it, I think, is applying the paint more thickly than absolutely necessary... we tend to want a beautiful, smooth, opaque, completely even application of bright colour... which usually means it has been applied with more product than really is needed to create the colour base.

After reading what everyone's been saying about maybe there being too much paint.... etc... I'm laughing... thinking that my cousins probably thought "WHAT is she doing to us????!!!????" as I sat there applying, applying, APPLYING the base coat so that I'd have a nice base.....

I'll have to apologize to them... though, I doubt it will be with a straight face!

I just put global face paint on my face for the first time and about a half hour later my face started to get tighter and tighter and tighter so I had to wash it off. I dont know if it was my skin or the paints.Has anyone else have this happen or know why it happens? I m a little concerned about using it on anyone else. I used the regular global pink and purple colors.

Global is a good brand. Better than "non toxic and good quality" it is FDA compliant. Was it painted or sponged? How thick? Try different techniques and see if it makes a difference. You might want to try a softer paint for bases like Paradise or Kryolan. Then use the waxy paints (like Wolfe, Global, DFX) for line work.

Paradise is the best make up hands down. Because it is made in the USA and supports American Jobs. Even with paradise which is predominantly made from organic base materials such as avocado and coconut you have the tightening of the makeup against the skin causing an itching sensation. Your best bet is to tell the child to tap the itchy spot with the tip of their finger.

It's more of a challenge when humidity is around 50%+ and temps are relatively mild as it takes the makeup longer to set than a very arid or hot climate which either speeds up or slows down the setting/drying speed respectively.